Neil Harris Reveals He Was Always A Member Of The NML Fan Club

Neil Harris tried to sign Nathaniel Mendez-Laing when he was manager of Millwall – and was delighted to see the forward demonstrate exactly why as he fired Cardiff City to their first away win of the season

Mendez-Laing provided a precise, powerful finish from the edge of the box in the 14th minute to net the only goal against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground as the Bluebirds continued their remarkable record against the Reds, who have taken only a single point from their last 10 meetings.

But while their misery was maintained, Harris enjoyed his return to one of his former clubs thanks to Mendez-Laing’s second goal of the season.

He said: “I tried to sign him in the past as a manager. So when I came in, he was one of the players I was really looking forward to working with.

“I was looking forward to working with the entire group, but he was a player I wanted before and he showed why here.”

Harris was pleased to see Cardiff notch up their first away win of the season in what was his third game in charge.

He added: “For the players I am delighted, because they have come close to winning away from home previously and the longer it goes on the more it builds up in your mind, I am sure.

“We could have won at Charlton and I wanted to take that into today.

“This is always a tough place to come but to face a Forest side that had just won 4-0 at QPR… we knew that was going to be difficult.

“But our organisation and defending was outstanding. We blocked shots and put bodies on the line.

“When you have done that, you need moments of quality. Nathaniel provided that moment of class for us with his goal.

“I just asked the boys for discipline, for structure and to work for each other – at the moment we look like a proper unit.”

Sabri Lamouchi’s Forest side have been adept at making the most of limited chances this season but this was a day when they had 30 efforts on goal – but only managed to hit the target twice.

Joao Carvalho, Sammy Ameobi, Alfa Semedo, Matty Cash and Jack Robinson all came close, but it was not enough.

Lamouchi said: “The numbers, they are clear. But we can do no more than that. We can only try to hit the target. We did create big chances.

“Normally we are very efficient with the goals we score from the number of chances we create. This time it was the opposite.

“It is one more loss at home, unfortunately we missed a lot, because we created a lot. We missed two big chances in the opening stages, through Sammy Ameobi and Joao Carvalho.

“Then they scored with their one real shot in the first half. Unfortunately, it is like this. It was a big disappointment.

“The most difficult thing in football is to score. To score a goal you need to create and today we created a lot. But we did not score.

“There was good commitment from the players – they tried. In the end, I think we deserved more than the zero points we got. But it was a big disappointment.

“They shot once in the first half, scored their goal and after that it was wait, wait, wait and play on the counter-attack.”

Recent Posts

Ashton Hewitt has thanked those who have supported his backing for the Black Lives matter campaign and the revelations over his own experiences of racism in Wales. The Dragons wing – who was called up to train with Wales during this season’s Six Nations – gave a revealing account of his encounters with police as a black rugby player. His interview with the South Wales Argus and other media led to a huge reaction and also provoked debate with fellow former Dragons star Andrew Coombs, who accused protestors in London of violence towards the police.

Robert Jones cherishes each one of his 54 Wales and three British and Irish Lions caps. But the proud son of Trebanos says that Swansea’s 1992 triumph over then World Cup holders Australia means more to him than his victories in a red jersey. The scrum-half played 286 times for the Whites between 1983 and 2002, and was wearing the No.9 shirt when the Wallabies paid a visit to St Helen’s on 4 November 1992. The match will be re-lived on S4C’s Clwb Rygbi, at 6.15pm on Saturday 6 June, and will also be available to watch on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer after broadcast.

Elite sport is slowly returning. Some, like professional football, are preparing to resume competition, but for most it’s about small steps to resume training. But while some sports get on to their starting blocks, others are still waiting outside the stadium – and there is also a difference between Wales and England, as Sport Wales CEO Brian Davies tells Graham Thomas. Sport Wales acting chief executive Brian Davies insists the country’s top athletes will not get left behind their rivals in the race to be ready again for major competitions. Welsh elite athletes in all sports are still waiting for a green light to resume training as some of the lockdown restrictions start to ease across other parts of the UK.

Canadian centre Stephen Dixon is Cardiff Devils’ third import signing for the 2020-21 Elite League ice hockey season. Dixon followed captain Joey Martin and Joey Haddad in committing to the Devils again and there will be more player announcements over the next few weeks. “I’ve enjoyed my time in Cardiff,” said the man from Halifax in Nova Scotia. “Devils are a quality organisation from top to bottom. We have a great group of guys and great fans.”

It was the game that rescued the career of Shane Williams – Wales v New Zealand in the pool stages of the 2003 World Cup. Before the tournament, it looked as if the player who would go on to become Wales’ greatest try-scorer might not even make the plane. He did – just – as a utility third scrum-half and back-up wing.
Tonight, 17 years on, the game is being replayed and re-assessed on S4C where Williams watches the 53-37 defeat for the first time since that day in Sydney . . .